Intergenerational effects of individual differences in Approach and Avoidance phenotypes. Survey on (bi)parental care influences on offspring's neural and behavioral development.
Primary reactions to salient stimuli can be categorized as Approach and Avoidance (A/A) behaviors.
The term Approach regards to the behavioral orientation toward positive stimuli, while Avoidance regards to the tendency to move away from negative stimuli. A/A conflict arises when a stimulus exhibits desirable and aversive features, simultaneously.
Spontaneous individual differences in the A/A responses to conflicting stimuli occur among species and strains, and even within the same population, depending on the interaction between life experiences and specific neurobiological substrate of single individuals. By using A/A Y-Maze test we have previously characterized three A/A phenotypes within inbred C57Bl6 mice. Our preliminary data indicate that parents' A/A phenotype influences offspring's behavior, although the mechanism that modulates this influence has not yet been clarified.
The aim of the present project is to examine the intergenerational effects of maternal and paternal A/A phenotype on (bi)parental care and on offspring's A/A behavior and anxiety. Furthermore, we will perform immunohistochemical analyses on parents' and offspring's receptors of oxytocin (OXTR) and expression of arginine vasopressin (AVP) and galanin (Gal), in medial preoptic area of hypothalamus (mPOA), bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST), lateral septum, amygdala and prefrontal cortex, structures strongly involved in triggering and modulating parental care and A/A circuitry.
We expect that maternal and paternal A/A phenotype is related to the expression of OXTR, AVP, Gal and differently affects parental care and offspring's performances in the A/A Y-Maze, Open Field (OF) and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM).
Uncovering the early mechanisms and intergenerational influence of A/A behaviors appears to be decisive for managing and preventing negative outcomes.